John Is Four

First, for a Halloween update.

I totally caved.

On Sunday afternoon I was getting ready to make cupcakes for John's birthday when I realized I was out of eggs. So, kind of an ox in the mire situation I decided, and I was off to the the grocery store...just to get eggs. But there was just something about the late afternoon ambience of shoppers at the store on Halloween that got to me. Before I knew it, I was loading eight large bags of candy into the cart along with my eggs. (I know, why did I get a cart if I was really just getting eggs?) Anyway, when I got home three boys were outside on the porch,sadly watching all the neighbors getting ready for Halloween. When they saw all the candy in the bags, they said to me, "Mom, what does this mean?" To which I replied happily, "WHAT DO YOU THINK IT MEANS?" To be there, you would have thought those kids won the lottery. Mom was actually going to let them go trick-or-treating on Sunday?!? And trick or treat they did...up and down the street, around the block, even over the train tracks to the Robers. It was excellent. I was the most popular mom in the house...at least for the evening. And it felt good...at least for the evening.

The late night celebrations kind of exhausted our birthday boy. We had to wake him up at 9:00 a.m. so that he'd have time to get dressed before his friends arrived for his party. As you can see, John did not inheirit the love of early morning birthday celebrations from the Earnest family. But, bedhed and all, he gave it his best shot and opened up every single present.



But then, it was time to get ready to party...four year old style.



We took our promised trip to the auto junkyard, saw some cars moved around by forklift, saw an airbag explode, and John even got to help get this car down off the tow truck. Pretty much a dream come true for our four year old.





We finished up with lunch at the pumpkin patch, some bounce house fun, cupcakes and presents. By 11:30 a.m., we were all pretty much worn out, and in need of an afternoon break.

But by 4:30, we were ready to party again. This time with dinner at Firestone. Apparently when you're four you think it's fun to make silly faces when your mom is trying to take your picture. I didn't mind though...I was just glad we got to go to Friestone instead of CPK for a birthday dinner. Not that I don't love CPK, but with all the birthdays we have around here, even I can get tired of hawaain pizzas and chicken waldorf salads.



We finished off the night with cake and Coldstone. Can you believe we'd never done this before? We sat on the patio of our store, sang Happy Birthday, blew out the candles, and then everyone got to choose whatever kind of ice cream they wanted to go with their chocolate cake. Mint Chocolate Chip, check. Vanilla with gummy bears, check. Even pumpkin ice cream. We had it all.


And today, we are all totally exhausted. But that's okay, because in case you don't already know, today is TOY STORY Tuesday. And John and Jack and I are holed up in my room watching our first blue-ray on my fifty inch plasma t.v. Yes, I should be making bow ties for my sister's wedding...or doing any other of the million things I need to do before we leave on Friday, but, I find lying on my bed with my four year old and watching Woody and Buzz Lightyear save the day yet again is pretty much just bliss for me right now. Happy Toy Story Tuesday to you all...I hope you have a four-year old around to watch it with you...it's the best way to do it!